Acid is making a come back

The use of LSD, also known to some as acid, is taking off in places you would never expect. The Economist recently published a report on top CEOs in Silicon Valley who are taking the psychedelic substance to increase confidence and creativity in the workplace.

No no no, they’re not trippin like this guy at a concert (*warning* shirtless guy inside).

In an interview, 27-year old venture capitalist, Nathan (not his real name), told the folks at The Economist that he was taking 15 micrograms of the substance before work. We did some digging and found that it takes at least 100 micrograms to “trip” according to the pros.

Science tells us that LSD interacts with the Serotonin 2A receptor of the brain. What this means for you as far as effect is it “dissolves your sense of self”, kindov like another substance we’re all familiar with (yep – booze, our ol’ friend).

Nathan’s not the only one…

There seem to be a bunch of big wigs taking the stuff for one reason or another

Steve Jobs – we’re not surprised here, seems to explain the invention of the iPhone

Ray Charles – did it help him see the music?

Angelina Jolie – the ladies are doing it too!

Tim Ferriss

Doc Ellis – took it and pitched a perfect game against the Padres

Bill Gates

…and more

Kinda surprising how many people are taking LSD for work, eh?

Disclaimer: we’re obviously not recommending you do this at home. duh.

Figuring out loans

Statistically speaking, most students have some form of student loan. If you’re one of them, you’re probably highly aware of the stress that comes along with it.

It can be extraordinarily overwhelming to look at the numbers involved with student loan debt. On average, students these days owe around $37,172 with average salaries for jobs following graduation around $50,556. Keep in mind that the average salary data comes from a broad range of degree categories, from communications to engineering. There are many students who start out far lower, or in some cases, higher, than that figure.

How do I cope?

First things first: figure out what you owe. Get an exact number. That includes calculating in your interest rate.

Knowing what you owe and recognizing how much your interest rate will add to that will give you a goal. Then, based on your income and other expenses, figure out how much you can put toward the loan every month. Always pay more than the minimum required amount, because that minimum usually just includes the interest, then maybe a few dollars toward the principle amount. You want to hack into that principle amount as soon as possible. If it’s possible to set up auto-payments so you won’t forget to do it, then do that! Some loan companies will even lower your interest if you set up auto payment.

If it’s more than you can handle on your current income with your other expenses, consider refinancing. There are several services, such as Credible and SoFi, which will help you easily refinance your loans so that your interest rates will be lower. Some refinancing options even offer fixed terms, meaning that you’ll be done with the loans in a fixed amount of time.

It’s very stressful to deal with debt when you’re young, but there are many, many resources and people who can help you. Spend some quality time with Student Loan Hero, Credible, SoFi, and other student loan specialist websites to find out more about what you can do to get out of debt faster.

Building Safer Spaces
Safe spaces have been under attack recently in both the political and academic arenas (read what Brittney Cooper says about the student protests at Yale, Mizzou, and Georgetown on Salon.com). There is a lot of misinformation surrounding what safe spaces are, and what purpose they serve. Many spaces that are meant to be “safe” end up being threatened or infiltrated by unsafe people, forcing marginalized folks to withdraw and stay silent. So what can we do to protect safe spaces and to make more spaces safer? In this article, we’ll talk about what safe spaces are, why they are important, and what we can do to protect them.

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It’s all about YOU

Think about it — if it weren’t for you guys reading, we’d be just a bunch of dweebs collecting cool news and dreaming of a better world for students. But this is your daily news source, folks, not click bait trash from the interwebs.

That means we need great news. Not just great news — but the best news. We need you to trust us, the same way you trust James Bond to take down every bad guy, and save the day. Every.Single.Time.

The Economist helps get us there

This little magazine keeps us on top of the latest news in business, politics and the general world order.

Even the famous Chief Executive of Google (yep, that one) says:

“Life without The Economist would be life without a global perspective.” – Eric Schmidt

That’s a big statement from the guy who pretty much rules the world…

So if you wanna be like us (and literally every business person you’ve ever met) let The Economist send you a few of their awesome magazines.